Interview: Nazim Akrami, Country Director of Afghanistan Libre

Can you tell us about your professional background? 

My name is Mohammed Nazim Akrami. I used to work on the front line against the Taliban regime on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Later, in 2001 I was recruited as a logistics officer in the organization Afghanistan Libre, and until 2016 I was in charge of logistical, project coordination, as well as fulfilling safety and security duties. Mid-2016 I was appointed Country director of Afghanistan Libre, in Kabul. 

What does your work at Afghanistan Libre imply? 

Afghanistan Libre provides better quality education for girls through digital classrooms, board exam preparation classes, WASH program and kindergarten. Our main activities were about empowering women and providing them with income-generating activities, like sewing training courses as well supporting pregnant women and preventing mother and children mortality through midwife consultation programs. 

What are the most important values in your job? 

Diligence, honesty, integrity, and delivering our services to people in need, especially women who are suffering from major inequalities due to huge hindrances, insecurity and decades of war in the country : those are our core priorities. 

Can you explain the actions you implemented to respond to the COVID-19 crisis? 

Afghanistan Libre can address the COVID-19 pandemic in 2 Afghan provinces. We have already gained relevant experience by implementing a brief successful 
COVID-19 response project in the Paghman district (Kabul province). The project included activities such as: manufacturing face mask (by former beneficiaries of our sewing training), compiling and printing COVID-19 pictorial and textual informative booklets as well as purchasing hygiene equipment and dispatching them in parcels for the most vulnerable families in the Paghman district. The officials of the district accepted the equipment with gratitude. 
We have designed a scheme to implement another COVID-19 response project in the Parwan and Kapisa provinces, through activities such as manufacturing face masks, printing informative COVID-19 booklets, distributing hygiene materials to families and broadcasting awareness through local radio channels. We plan to reach 400,000 families.